Choco Mucho bucks slow start, beats Rebisco in classification round

Choco Mucho bucked a sluggish start and rallied past fellow Philippine representative Rebisco, 22-25, 25-17, 25-19, 25-17, in the classification round of the 2021 Asian Women's Club Volleyball Championship on Wednesday in Thailand.

The win pushed Choco Mucho to a battle for fifth place against Zhetysu of Kazakhstan on Thursday while Rebisco wrapped up its campaign at the seventh spot.

Kalei Mau led the squad with 20 points off 19 attacks and a block while MJ Phillips and Mylene Paat finished with 13 and 10 markers respectively. Starring for Rebisco, meanwhile, were young guns Faith Nisperos and Mhicaela Belen who each posted 12 and 10 points.

It was a tight affair in the opening frame until Rebisco pulled away at the 20-all mark with four straight markers to reach setpoint. Choco Mucho scored back-to-back points but middle blocker Ivy Lacsina finished off the set with a quick hit.

Choco Mucho then came roaring back in the second set, establishing a 24-13 cushion with Mau and MJ Phillips joining forces, but they could not close out right away after several miscommunications.

A block by Mau on Belen, though, finally sealed the set for Choco Mucho to tie the match at one set apiece.

Choco Mucho side built on that momentum in the third set, hitting 15 attack points and two blocks while forcing Rebisco to commit six errors to cop a 2-1 set advantage.

Lefty spiker Paat, middle blocker Riri Meneses, and Phillips led the way in the fourth frame as they kept Rebisco winless in the tournament for a shot at a decent finish.

Prior to the match, Choco Mucho was also winless in two games in Pool A.

—MGP, GMA News